Crystal Millennium
by moviefan6896
Summary: The year is 1999. After the defeat of Chaos, everything became normal again. The new millennium and Crystal Tokyo is right around the corner however. Who or what is the enemy this time? Read as we go from blissful peace, to an action packed battle for not just the sake of loved ones, but for Earth and the Galaxy as well. R&R!
1. So much for Mamoru's great cooking

**A/N: Hi there! this is my VERY first fanfiction so I hope you enjoy! I have done EXTENSIVE research on the sailor moon timeline and hope there are no gaps that any of you readers can find. Crystal Millenia will be based off of the Manga (both the original and remastered versions). Read, Review, and Enjoy! Hope to write more chapters soon =)**

**NOTICE: Chapter One (this chapter) has been UPDATED! In other words, lengthened. Decided I cut it too short. SO! Here is 100% of chapter one!**

**Chapter One**

"OH MY GOD, I'M GONNA BE LATE!"

Usagi leapt out of bed like the moon rabbit she was and scrambled around to find her uniform within the disaster zone called her bedroom.

"Usagi? Get up already! Its eight o'clock! School starts in ONE HOUR! You can't be late on your LAST DAY of HIGH SCHOOL!"

"I KNOW MOM! I'M GETTING DRESSED! I'LL BE OUT IN A MINUTE!"

She rushed to get her uniform on one last time before running down the staircase and out the door. Outside, Mamoru was waiting for her, staying just out of sight from any windows Usagi's Father might have been able to spot him from.

"Got everything?" He asked her with a grin.  
"Yep!" She replied with all her perkiness.

And with that, they took off for school. When they arrived at Juban Secondary, Usagi hopped off the motorcycle and removed her helmet. Unexpectedly, she also removed Mamoru's from his head to deliver to him her last kiss as a high school student.

"I`ll see you tonight! Remember its Friday! Pick me up just before dinner?" She asked with a cheery smile.

"Sure! I'll see you later then dumpling head. Have a good last day of school!"

"Oh sure! Rub in the fact that you're already off for good!"

He laughed, and with that, he took off. All was now well, Chaos had been defeated, the Starlights went back home with their princess, and Mamoru was back in the flesh as well. There was no more to worry about. All was well. It had been two entirely normal years with no need for the senshi. It was as if they had disappeared.

* * *

_**3 Years later**_

It was now January of 1999. Five years had passed since Chaos had been defeated. Three years had passed since Usagi graduated from high school, Mamoru from university (and since they moved in together), and two since Mamoru landed an outstanding job at the hospital, making it a peaceful five years. Little did they know however, that this was soon about to change.

Luna had moved in with Minako and Artemis once Usagi and Mamoru were living together. The year 2000 was coming up, everyone was on edge, was the world going to end? Would there be an apocalypse? Or would it just keep running like any other day? Usagi, Mamoru, the senshi, and the cats however, were suspicious. If Chibiusa had been 900 years old in the 30th century, that meant Crystal Tokyo was just around the corner. Time was running out. They figured that 2000 would be _the _year. If this was true, they had just under one year left to figure out what specifically was going to happen. They had to sort things out and prepare for the coming events. Fast.

Usagi lay on the large soft bed, splayed all over the fluffy white sheets and pillows, bored to death, contemplating when Mamoru would arrive home from the hospital. He had graduated head of his class a year early in med school and, after a one year internship, was awarded a highly important position at the Abazu Hospital, dealing with the patients in trauma. He knew what it was like to be in the patients' shoes and wanted to be rid of his ghastly amnesia and remember his family.

She envied him still, despite this. He was highly intelligent, graduated top of his class, and made good grades seem effortless (despite the large amount of studying and hard work he would do). She, on the other hand, would fail every test she wrote, barely scraping by in high school. She had no chance of even being admitted into a post secondary institution. But what was the point anyways? She would eventually just become queen in (what they assumed to be) one year's time. If she had actually gone to university, and Crystal Tokyo came within the next year, she would become queen before even graduating. So really, what was the point in wasting time, effort, and money?

"I wonder when Mamo-chan's getting home... maybe I should make dinner as a surprise for when he gets home. Ugh, but that would mean getting off the bed! No, I should do it! I'm staying here for the price of absolutely nothing after all. It's the least I can do for him."

Slowly, she built up the motivation and crawled off the soft bed and just as soon as she was about to get up, '_BANG!' _the front door of the apartment slammed shut. And so, highly startled, she fell off the bed and onto the floor with a loud '_thud'._

"Usako? Was that you? Are you alright?" Inquired Mamoru as he walked through the front door.

"Oh Mamo-chan! It's you!" She cried back from the bedroom trying to recompose herself. "I was just about to fix up a delicious dinner for when you got home! But you got home before I could start." she said disappointedly as she emerged from behind the door.

"Oh um, that's okay! Don't worry about it! I actually had something in mind so don't worry, I'll fix dinner okay?"  
Knowing what a dreadful cook Usagi was, Mamoru was not about to either suffer her piercing crying due to the ugly truth or have to suffer food poisoning due to remaining silent and polite. The last time he'd eaten her food, he was given food poisoning for a week!

"Are you sure?" She asked, trying to hide the enormous smile behind her face. Everyone knew Mamoru's cooking was almost as good as Mako's, which means to say a lot.

"Of course I'm sure. What were you thinking of having?" Mamoru breathed out a sigh of relief as he took off and put away his shoes and coat, and walked to the kitchen. Tonight so far, they would be tear and illness free. _"We're improving!" _ He thought to himself with a hidden grin.

"Could we maybe have dumplings?" She crossed her fingers behind her back and watched him as he started going from one cupboard to the next, pulling out different ingredients spices.  
"So dumplings for a dumpling head?" He laughed as set down a package on the counter. "Sure, I'll make some pork dumplings then?"

"Okay!" She replied with a smile brimming from ear to ear. "Pork dumplings are the yummiest things ever! Well, besides cake... and ice cream... and maybe candy too... but that's beside to point! How long is it going to take do you think?"

"Um, probably one hour?" He assumed.

"A whole hour? I guess I'll have to find some way to survive my famishment until then." Sighed the dramatic blue eyed bunny, causing her companion to roll his eyes for a millionth time.  
After one full hour of nagging Mamoru to hurry up with the dumplings, him tickling her in retaliation to just be patient for dinner, and both of them having to endure the mouth watering aroma of the dumplings cooking, they were finally done and ready to be eaten. Mamoru served each of themselves three large dumplings (since he knew just how much Usagi loved to eat) with a side of rice, and set the plates down on the table. They took their seats quickly, not able to wait any longer with that pungent smell of food entering their nostrils.  
"Well," said Mamoru while setting down Usagi's plate in front of her, taking a bite of his first dumpling, and seating himself at the table, "Dig in! They turned out delicious!"

"I'll bet they did!" She said eyeing the food with an expression of great desire to eat on her face. She took one bite out of the dumpling, the most delectable dumpling might we add, and the unexpected happened. Usagi dropped the dumpling on the floor and yelped.

"Mamoru? I can't see! Mamo? MAMORU? WHAT'S GOING ON? HELP ME!"

"Usagi!" He ran over to her side of the table to check on her. "Usagi, what's going on? Just keep talking to me." He told her while holding her shoulders, trying to keep her calm while she flailed her hands in distress to bear down her surroundings.

"I can't see a thing! Everything's faded to black! Mamo-chan, I can't see anything! What's happening? I'm blinking... but I... can't... see anyth-"

"USAGI!" Yelled Mamoru in shock, as she fell to the floor unconscious; nearly hitting her head on the tile floor had he not been there to catch her in time.

As for Usagi, everything went black...


	2. Usagi's Blackout Dream

**A/N: Hey guys! HAPPY CANADA DAY! WHOOT WHOOT! After having an awesome day watching the fireworks with friends, I came home with inspiration from the fireworks. A spark may we call it (?) to write. Again, I know I promised to write longer "next time" and I was going to, but I just HAD to cut it where I did! I though it would be the perfect spot! and plus, that way you guys get chapter two now :) SO! Here is chapter TWO of Crystal Millennium and I hope you guys enjoy it! R&R!**

PS. Did I mention Happy 145th Birthday Canada? Oh, I didn't? Okay! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA! :) 3 I love you!

**Chapter Two**

_There was once a young girl born of the moon.  
Her hair was silver, eyes piercing blue.  
She had many friends, all of them princesses,  
who vowed to protect her till death.  
She would stare from her room every night at the Earth  
and wonder what lay there.  
A planet of blue unlike the moon  
beckoning for her to come.  
The voyage between the moon and the Earth  
was strictly forbidden.  
Despite this fact the girl would sneak out  
to the palace's hidden carriage.  
The carriage was not of a normal type,  
as it did not travel on land.  
It was a glass tube meant for one sole use.  
To unite the Moon and the Earth.  
The young girl snuck out every night from her room,  
to see the beauty of Earth.  
She found herself every time that she left  
in the gardens of Elysium.  
Rapidly she was captured by the beauty  
and continued to sneak out,  
to bask in the light of the heavenly gardens  
of the wonderful Earth.  
One day while on Earth in Elysium  
she spotted a handsome man.  
Curious as she was to pursue,  
she hid inside a bush.  
Much to her distraught it was full of thorns,  
as it was a bush of red rose.  
The man heard her yelp, and came to help  
the poor injured princess.  
Her cover was blown she'd be killed for sure,  
as well as start a war,  
as anyone to go between Moon and Earth  
would break the ancient code.  
The man helped her out of the bush,  
the princess was scared that he may attack.  
To her surprise he did not say a word besides introducing himself.  
His name was Endymion, prince of the Earth  
which shocked her even more.  
To think she may be  
in the hands of  
currently,  
her greatest enemy._

The voice stopped singing and the vision faded away. Usagi was frightened yet curious. She had no clue where she was or what was happening.

She seemed to be falling, falling, falling, slowly down a never ending pit of darkness, her hair floating above her head. She felt different though... "_Why_?" she wondered. Who was she exactly? She was three different people with one body. All looked the same and had slightly different personalities, or so she thought. Was she herself, Tsukino Usagi? The ditzy girl, that cry baby who failed at everything and could never be on time, but with a bucket full of friends and family? Or, was she Sailor Moon, champion of justice, brave against evil, with the Senshi and Tuxedo Mask by her side? Or, was she Princess Serenity? Her original form from her past life, who she would occasionally become when her own power was not strong enough. Maybe that was it. Maybe she was just one person with a different name for each range of power she possessed.  
As she continued to drift downwards, she wondered when she would reach the bottom as she had been falling for a very long time now.

At that moment, she stopped falling and remained floating, as if suspended by a million silk strings. She saw a light, a warm white and golden light forming directly above her. Perhaps a metre or two away from her face?

The light slowly transformed, or rather, molded into the shape of a most beautiful woman. Usagi felt she recognized her, but could not recall enough information from her mind to know from where. She looked to be around Usagi's age though. The illuminated woman held her hand out to Usagi. She tried to touch her hand, but was too far away to reach out to her. Usagi lifted her arm to reach the woman's outstretched hand but her hand went right through. Usagi recoiled her hand in fear. Who was this, and what they want with her?

_"Do not be frightened by me! We are one in the same. It is I, Neo Queen Serenity from the Future. The time is coming quickly now. Soon, you will have to face many great challenges greater than those you have faced ever before. There is a great force coming, and when they do come, you must strike at the earliest chance possible. Is that clear?"_

"But isn't this just a dream?" She inquired hazily. "I know it must be coming soon, but this is just a dream. Aren't you not allowed to tell us of what is to come? As Sailor Pluto said, it would throw off the space-time continuum. Time would be rewritten, the future would change. Your information can't be real because you wouldn't be able to tell me otherwise."

_"No, you must trust me, or rather yourself. I am very much so real, even though I may simply in your mind. The crystal will only let me speak to you through this method for so long, so you must listen to me when I say this, for you will need to use my exact words someday in the future. I am giving you this crucial information just as it was given to me. There will be an uprising, though I cannot say who is involved. It will commence as something small. It did not seem to us as anything that needed paying attention to, that is, until things started getting very bad. The Earth was on the verge of destruction. It will be like no other battle you have faced. Do not be so quick to trust those who may seem to be friends. You must use your instincts and listen to whatever advice your loved ones give you. It will be your secret weapon and strength that will give you the power to persevere. I am sorry that I cannot be of much help to you, but remember my words. Crystal Tokyo is closer than you may think."_

"But how am I supposed to save the whole Earth if I've had difficulties with saving just the greater Tokyo area? I vaguely remember something about cleansing the Earth of evil with the crystal. Where am I going to get the power to even purify the rest of Asia? Just using it to wipe out one strong villain will wipe me out completely!"

_"Do not fear, you will find a way. If not, how would I be speaking to you? I would not exist. I can promise you that. You must find a way once the time comes and you will. I can assure you of that. Just believe in yourself and the others, do not doubt your abilities, and do not stop fighting for a peaceful Earth until you have been completely drained of all power. Above all else, never lose hope, no matter how dark the situation may seem."_

And with that she started to fade and Usagi resumed her fall, picking up speed. She tried to yell out one last question to her future self, but no noise would escape her mouth. So instead she reached out to her, as if sending a silent message.

_"Good luck!" _she said extending out her own hand. She was however, too far still to reach, and with that her light went out. Usagi was now falling in the dark, the cold uncertain dark, falling into a never ending pit of darkness. Impossible as it may seem, the black faded to black once again, as Usagi drifted and closed her eyes.


	3. Bubbles and War

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the week long wait there! I was too excited about the news to think!  
Now, what news may that be are you wondering? Oh, you didn't hear?  
Well then I'll tell you!  
*drumroll***

THERE"S A NEW SAILOR MOON ANIME COMING OUT NEXT SUMMER! (Summer 2013)  
So, how stoked are you guys? I'm so excited I can't believe it!  
This chapter still isnt at the action, but I'm slowly getting there!  
Consider this one... the "calm before the storm"? :)  
ANYWAYS! R&R! Love the support!  
Enjoy!  
~Moviefan6896  


**Chapter Three**

She opened her eyes slowly, the light burning her retinas, trying to acquire her location. Usagi realized she was once again on the fluffy white bed in, well, the bedroom. She looked around groggily to get some bearings down as to what time it may have been and saw a foot next to hers. She turned her head to the left to see a very much so asleep Mamoru sitting up in bed next to her.

Trying to figure out how she got from dinner to bed and not remembering a thing, she strained her mind. She remembered her dream in a haze, but not much else.  
Mamoru woke up, startling her, and sat up to face Usagi to check on her.

"Hey you're awake dumpling head! What happened back there? You completely fainted on me and left your dumpling on the floor to rot. That hurts you know. I thought you loved my cooking, but I guess it wasn't that great now was it? I mean it nearly killed you!" He said with a sarcastic grin before becoming once again serious. "But really, are you feeling alright? It really was out of the blue. You're not coming down with a fever or something are you?" He said feeling her forehead.

"No, I think I'm fine now, but..."

"But what?"

"But I had a dream."

Mamoru stared at her trying to read her blank expression. "What sort of dream?" He pressed.

"I spoke with myself."

"Spoke with yourself?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," she said looking right into his midnight eyes. "But not me from now, me from the future; Neo Queen Serenity."  
"And in your dream, what happened? What did you talk about?" Mamoru was suspicious. The last time one of them had had a dream sent from the future, the outcome hadn't been too fantastic.

"She was warning me about something. She mentioned Crystal Tokyo and an uprising. She said that there will be a battle unlike any other we have faced before."

"Oh great, just what I was hoping for." He said full of exasperation, rubbing his palms across his eyes.

"Mamo-chan, I think from what she said, our hunch is right. Crystal Tokyo is coming soon. Very soon. As in, 'before the end of the year' soon."

"And just as soon as we were able to finally have peace after years, we have to fight again. I wonder if it will ever end. Did she say anything else?"

"Not that I can really remember. I remember someone was singing though before she appeared. I think it was about us, during the silver millennium. How me met and died because I had come to Earth. It was a very cold melody and sad song." She shivered, thinking back on the tune.

Mamoru frowned, held her shoulders, and with genuine concern in his eyes asked, "I believe you, about everything you've said, but are you _sure_ you're alright? Are you sure you're not leaving out anything at all that you remember?"

"I'm sure. That's all I can remember. What time is it anyways? I'm hungry! I didn't get to finish dinner after all I guess. You saved my dumplings right?"

Mamoru's expression lit up to see her back to normal. "Well, since you dropped it on the floor, I threw yours out and finished mine. I wasn't about to starve myself!"

"No! You meanie! You didn't! My dumplings!" Her face was covered with an air of shock.

Mamoru burst out laughing. "No, I just put them in the fridge, don't worry, I'm not going to starve you either!" He said as he got up to get them from the kitchen. "Its nine o'clock by the way. You really were out for a while there! Glad you're okay."

"Nine o'clock?" Usagi got out of bed and looked out the window. The sun was almost completely set when they had sat down for dinner, but now it was completely dark out and all you could see were the lights of Tokyo, streaming on forever. She then looked over at the alarm clock on the bedside table and sure enough, it read 9:00PM.

Mamoru returned with Usagi's three dumplings (one with a bite out of it) on a small white plate and placed it on the bed. Usagi drew the curtains to where they had been before and sat on the edge of the bed as she began to eat like the famished creature she was.

"Mm! They turned out really good Mamo! And look, I didn't black out on you this time! I guess your cooking wasn't that bad after all!" She said with a wink.

Mamoru gave a chuckle and joined her on the edge of the bed just as she was finishing up the last dumpling. She had missed dinner three hours ago after all. She set the plate down on the bedside table and stretched out as far as she could.

"Stiff?" Mamoru inquired.

"Yeah, everything's all tight since I woke up." She said pouting.

"A hot bath would probably do you good." he said thinking. "Why don't you wait here while I fill up the bathtub, and we can both let our muscles have some relief? I've had a long day too." He said chuckling to himself once again.

"Alright! But with bubbles okay?" She said smiling.  
"Alright, alright." He said laughing at her.

Usagi loved the idea. She hadn't soaked in the bath for ages. She could feel the hot water already on her skin, soothing her from head to toe. Although wait, had he said 'both' could relax? She turned a deep cherry red at the thought, thanking the moon that he had already gone to the bathroom to set up the bath. The middle school girl inside her that had never _really_ left was giggling like at madman. "_Of course_" she thought shaking her head as she got up from the bed. She went over to the dresser, opening one of her drawers pulling out numerous things to tie up her hair. She left her trademark meatballs in and tied the pigtails in an ornate fashion in between. She then grabbed a fresh towel from the closet, undressed and wrapped herself in it. She walked into the bathroom to see Mamoru just turning off the tap.

"Are these enough bubble your highness?" He asked pointing to the overly 'bubbled' tub.

Usagi giggled. "Yeah, you got it just right!" she said smiling at him.

"Well, I'll be back in a minute, you can get in though. Just watch out and don't burn yourself dumpling head, the water is boiling. We both know that's something you would do after all."

"Hey!" She yelled back at him, but he'd already shut the door and left. Sighing from defeat, she stuck her toes into the bath to test out the steaming water. It was the perfect temperature surprisingly enough. She proceeded to get in and as soon as she sat down, and was completely immersed in water to her neck, Mamoru re-entered wearing nothing but a towel, which of course made Usagi hide her cheeks in the bubbles, blushing fiercely.

"So, the water's fine then?" He asked heading towards the tub.

"Yeah! It's just right." She said with her smile hidden in the snowy mass of bubbles.

Mamoru climbed in opposite Usagi and let out a huge sigh of relief as he sat in the warm water. Usagi motioned for him to join her on her side of the large Japanese style tub, and so he did.

"So, how was your day today? Anything new? Well besides having me black out for inexplicable reasons."She joked as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Not really, there was a very odd case that came in today though." He stated, his face hard in concentration.

"Tell me about it." She pressed as she pulled him by the shoulders so that his back was against her calves, as she began to rub his temples with his head resting on her knees, much to his delight.

"I was asking the secretary at the desk, May, to give me the files on a patient that had come in earlier that day, when a man stumbled into the emergency room yelling at the top of his lungs. Nobody could even make out what he was saying." His eyes squinted, trying to remember exactly what happened.

"What happened? What was wrong with him? Was he injured?"

"We don't know what's wrong with him. It's all very strange and I kept having this weird feeling about it too. It's something that we've never seen before. He seemed to see and hear things; leading us to believe that he has some sort of mental illness. What we just couldn't understand though is he had a tattoo on his left wrist of a skull, and just a hand's width above that a cut oozing out a light purple liquid. The only thing he should be 'oozing' is blood, and blood is most definitely not light purple. He was losing so much of it too that if it was some sort of blood, he would have been much weaker, yet it took ten of us to get him strapped down tight enough to stop moving and resisting treatment. I don't know, but it sure was weird. We sent the purple goo off to the labs to be tested though, to see what comes up. So now, we'll just have to wait."

"Huh, weird..." she trailed distantly. "I wonder what was wrong with him. How is he now? Did he, you know... or was he still there when you left?"

"No he was still there. We managed to get enough morphine in him though that he fell asleep. He kept yelling in agony about a burning sensation where the cut was on his wrist. That feels _really_ nice by the way Usako." He said smiling with his eyes closed, referring to how she was rubbing his temples.

Usagi kissed his forehead smiling. "You're welcome!" She piped.

"I think we should call a scout meeting tomorrow first thing to discuss that weird dream of yours. I have the day off tomorrow and I think Rei might be able to find something in the fire. What do you think?"

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Why don't we call them in the morning though?"

"Okay." He said as he shut his eyes once again, enjoying the attention he was receiving.

At that moment, Usagi thought of a devious plan. She quickly took her plan into action. Swiftly, she grabbed a handful of the now almost completely popped bubbles and slammed it down all over Mamoru's face. Giggling ferociously at the sight, she never realized it when he obviously noticed, turned around, wiped it off his face, and slammed it right back at her.

Taken by surprise, she screamed, making it now Mamoru's turn to laugh back at her. She wiped the bubbles off her face and splashed water at Mamoru best she could.

"Hey! Quit that!" he yelled laughing.

"No way!" she giggled, continuing to splash water at his face.

"Alright then, you asked for it!" He growled as grabbed her shoulders and dunked her completely underwater, much to the anger of her hair. Now, It would take hours to completely dry. Literally. One of the cons of having ankle length hair.

Usagi came up gasping for air and saw just in time that Mamoru was going to attempt to push her under again. She jumped up and jumped away from his reach, only to slip in the tub, and fall on top of him, creating a splash that had reached every corner of the bathroom. They both came up of air laughing like maniacs. This was the most Mamoru had laughed in ages, thrilling them both. They leaned against the wall to catch their breath. Mamoru was the first to speak.

"Usako, you're such a little kid!" he laughed uncontrollably.

"What about you, huh? You're the one who went for 'revenge'." She smiled back.

"Well you started it. I was nice and relaxed with you rubbing my forehead back there, but no, you had to shove bubbles in my face. Bubbles! We're in our twenties and we just had a war in the bathtub! So much for relaxing out muscles." He snorted crossing his arms.

"Mamo-chan, I think I'm getting kind of tired. What about you? Do you want to get out?"

"Sure, I think we could both use a good night's sleep," He laughed, "_especially_ after all that very childish behaviour." He scolded as he kissed her right on the lips, much to her soaring delight.

With that Mamoru stood up and helped the rabbit get out of the tub, ensuring that she didn't fall on top of him again. The bathroom was soaked enough as it was. As Usagi treaded sopping wet to the bedroom to dry off and get changed, he drained out the tub and gave to floor a quick wipe to ensure that it would completely dry by morning.

When he entered the bedroom, Usagi had already fallen asleep in bed. He smiled at the blond angel with wet hair, wondering how she could sleep so heavily and so long. She would sleep in every morning after all no matter how early they went to bed, and nearly nothing could wake her up. He proceeded with drying himself off and put on a pair of pants. He then slipped under the covers, put his arm around his dumpling head, and fell asleep himself.


	4. Visions and Elevator rides

**A/N: Hey guys! First off, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT! I'm so glad your all liking it so far! This means a lot to me since well, English was never really my best subject ehehe ^_^'' My English teacher over the three years I had her always complained that my writing was too confusing, filled with errors, and that my grammar was horrendous. (won't fight with the grammar part though hahaha I mean really? When am I going to need to know what an independent clause is?)**

**SO ANYWAYS! Here's chapter 4! I'm sorry It took me so long to write it! I had a busy weekend, but now I've been sick all week (good thing) so I've had time to write this INSANELY long chapter for you guys! (its as long as the previous chapters put together ahaha)  
**

**As promised, I'm starting to give you the real story here! ENOUGH FLUFF SAYS I! ON WITH THE STORY!**

So Read and Review! I love hearing you ideas and opinions! =)

~Moviefan  


**Chapter Four**

Her eyes slowly fluttered open due to the sun peeking through the crack in the curtains. Was it morning already? Due to the fact that the clock read ten o'clock am, she assumed that yes, it was in fact morning.

She turned over and looked at the still sleeping man with gorgeous black hair. Had she actually woken up before him? This was a feat nobody thought to be possible. He had to have been _extremely_ exhausted for Usagi to wake up before him and sleep past nine o'clock. This was a rare occasion. She was going to savour it.

She studied his every feature, starting with his hair, then down to his eyebrows, eyelids, nose, lips, chin, jaw, cheeks, ears, and neck. As tempting as it was, she held back from playing with his hair. She didn't want to take any chances of waking him up earlier than he would have by himself.

His expression was that of a sleeping child. "_He's so adorable when he sleeps!"_ She smiled to herself.

She looked over at the clock again; 10:15. Not able to resist the urge any longer, she convinced herself that it was time for them both to get out of bed. She ran her fingers through his dark hair softly and his eyes slowly opened, squinting to adjust to the light peeking through the curtains that faced him.

"Morning sleepy-head!" she piped.

"Good morning Usako. Since when am I the sleepy-head? I thought that was always your job." He replied with a smirk.

"Since I woke up before you this morning!" She winked back. "That must have been some day yesterday for you to sleep in longer than me." She pointed out to him.

"Yeah, I guess it was." He laughed as he sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. "How about you take your shower while I make breakfast? That way you have longer to dry that beautifully long hair of yours while we eat breakfast and I shower."

"Sounds good to me." She said sitting up to hug him from behind and delivering him a kiss on the cheek. He ruffled her undone hair, kissed her hand gently, and got up to go to the kitchen.

Usagi stood up from the bed and trotted back towards the once again dry bathroom. She quickly stripped off her pyjamas and entered the shower, turned on the hot water, and stood there for a minute, taking in the relaxing and refreshing moment. She let her hair completely soak for about three minutes, inhaling the warm condensation, then pumped a palm-full of shampoo out of the bottle and lathered it on her scalp. She then rinsed it out, slathered her hair with conditioner, working her fingers through the now tangled mess, removing any and all knots that were humanly possible to remove. She then rinsed out the substance to the best of her ability, taking a breather to let her arms rest (washing and drying long hair takes strength after all, usually around half an hour each wash/blow dry).

She sat down on the floor of the shower, letting the water run down her face and body, grabbed her razor off the tiny shelf in the tile on the side of the shower, and shaved her legs. Starting at the bottom of her calf, to her knees, and up her thighs, she repeated this twice, all over both of her legs. Once finished, she placed the razor on the small shelf once again and slowly mustered up the courage to shut off the water and step out into the cold air of the bathroom. She swiftly grabbed a towel to keep warm, dried herself off, and darted back into the bedroom to get dressed.

She opened up her drawer, pulled out a bra, a pair of underwear, a white long sleeved turtleneck, a pair of warm black leggings, a red plaid skirt, a black belt, and placed them all on the bed. She took off her wet towel, throwing it on the floor, and got dressed, tucking her shirt in and wearing the belt around her waist.

She opened the door and walked through the living room and into the kitchen, only to have the glorious smell of food take over her nostrils. She put her hands on and peeked over Mamoru's shoulders to see him cooking one last crepe, which he already had a stack of cooked and ready on a plate beside the stove.

"That smells _really_ good!" she said from behind into his right ear with her mouth watering slightly.

"That's because I'm the one cooking it!" He winked as he removed the last crepe from the pan and placed it on the plate.

Usagi grabbed sugar, syrup, and some berries from the cupboards and the fridge and placed them on the table for the crepes while Mamoru put out two plates on the table, a set of forks and knifes two glasses, and the plate with the crepes in the middle of the table. They both sat down, serving themselves to crepes with their desired toppings, and dug in.

"Mm! Ith tho gud Mamo-cha!" She perked with her mouth full. Mamoru couldn't help but laugh at this.

"See? I'm not trying to poison you after all!" He said with a lazy smirk.

They continued to eat breakfast and finished all the crepes within around twenty minutes. Much to Mamoru's appall, Usagi was the one to eat over half, causing him to drop a single drop of sweat, laughing nervously at her.

"What's so funny?" She pouted with a stern expression.

"Oh, ha, nothing. It's nothing really, I just thought of something funny." He said taking the empty dishes to the dish washer to avoid confrontation, snickering nervously.

"If you say so..." She eyed him suspiciously.

Trying to change the topic Mamoru spoke up. "Usako, now that we've finished eating and such," he snaked his arms around her waist from behind, "how about you call the senshi so we can figure out was that dream last night was all about, hm?" He nestled his face in her neck, just under her jaw and by her shoulder. She smelled like strawberries, and it was an overwhelmingly delicious sent. He struggled to keep himself together.

Usagi smiled, remembering a time similar to this one, six years previously, which had resulted in a completely wonderful... "_something"_ (shall we say?) on the floor of this very room. Oh the numerous amounts of nights that she would call home telling her mom that she was spending the night at Makoto's house, when in reality, she was here in Mamoru's apartment. However, this time they were rudely interrupted by the phone ringing, ending this moment then and there. Startled, Usagi accidentally hit her boyfriend in the face, making him force out a minor yelp, from shock as well. She whipped around and cupped his face.

"Oh I'm sorry Mamo-chan! I was surprised by the phone! I didn't mean to hit you. Are you alright? It wasn't that hard right?" Worry flooded her face.

_Ringggggg, Ringggggg, Ringgggggg._

"No I'm fine." He said rubbing his cheek. "Just get the phone." He sighed, turning to get an icepack from the freezer.

"Hello?"

"Hey there Usagi, it's Rei. What's up?"

"Oh not much, what about you? I was just about to call you actually. About a senshi meeting as soon as possible perhaps?"

"A senshi meeting? We haven't needed to hold one of those in ages! What's going on Usagi? I was just gonna see if you wanted to come shopping with the rest of us today." replied a very suspicious sounding Rei.

"Well last night I blacked out during dinner. Mamo-chan told me that I was out cold for about two or three hours, and I had this really weird dream."

"Dream about what?"

"I can explain later, but can we maybe meet at your place? I think it has something to do with Crystal Tokyo. We have a strong feeling over here that it's coming up quickly. I want to figure out if my dream meant anything. Neo-Queen Serenity ascended to the throne when she was twenty two right? Well I'm turning twenty one in June this year!"

"OH MY GOSH YOU'RE RIGHT!" She yelled so loudly that Usagi had to remove the phone from her ear. "That means it's coming before next June! Okay! You hang up then! I'm gonna call the girls and tell them to come over here A.S.A.P. What time were you thinking?"

"I don't know, maybe two?"

"Alright! I'll see you and Mamoru here at two then! I'll call the others now. What about the outers?"

"Nah, let's leave it at just the inners for now. But, then again, Setsuna may be able to help." She paused to think. "No, let's just leave it at inners for now. I just want to have sort of a brainstorming session you know? No enemies have even appeared, so why involve everyone?"

"Yeah, that's a good point." She admitted. "Alright then I'll call Mako, Mina, and Ami-chan and tell them to meet at the temple at two. I'll see you then Usagi!"

"Bye Rei! See you at two!" And with that she hung up the phone and put it back on the receiver.

"So what's the plan then?" Asked Mamoru peeking out the kitchen door with an icepack on his right cheek.

"We're all going to Rei's at two for a meeting. So, in other words, we should be leaving in an hour and a half." She smiled.

"Sounds good."

Mamoru was standing at the front door of the apartment with his winter clothes on waiting ever so patiently as his girlfriend ran around the house trying frantically to find her gloves and scarf.

"Did you check your drawers in the-" He was cut off by a yell.

"Found them!" She exclaimed rushing out of the bedroom. "They were in my top drawer in the dresser." She panted and puffed as she pulled on her fluffy black winter boots in the hallway, Mamoru holding her shoulders to keep her balanced. She then stood back up straight, wrapping her scarf around her neck and pulling on her gloves before grabbing her coat from the closet. Practically throwing it on and around her, she unlocked the door and walked into the corridor, Mamoru following close behind.

As she shuffled down the hallway to the elevator in her winter boots, he locked the door once again, and quickly jogged to catch up with her, going ahead and attacking the elevator's call button before she even had a chance to get there. The doors slid open instantly, allowing them to assume that the elevator had already been on their floor. The elevator wasn't the fastest means of transportation, but hey, it beat walking down the currently pitch black stairwell as the lights had burned out the previous day around suppertime.

"Ladies first." He ushered her, once again following close behind.

"Oh why thank you kind sir." She teased seductively, wrapping her arms around his neck and gave him a playful kiss as the doors shut behind them, getting a taste of his minty fresh toothpaste. Or was that his mouthwash?

"It's... no problem... milady." He murmured between kisses, becoming absolutely lost with her.

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open to the garage a second later, breaking them apart. The two slipped out of the elevator, his arm around her waist, her head on his left shoulder, and right arm slung around his back and onto his other shoulder. They stopped at his red sports car parked at the far end. Mamoru unlocked the doors allowing them to jump into the front seats. They then shut their doors, fastened their seatbelts, and set off for the Hikawa Shrine.

The air was chilly and the sky a deep grey as they stepped out of the car. Quickly shutting the doors and scurrying up the many steps to enter the warm temple. They reached the top of the steps and walked down the stone path towards the temple, sliding open the doors to the residence at the end.

"Rei, you there?" Piped the rabbit into hallway as she and Mamoru stepped inside, shutting the door behind them.

"Yes I'm here! So are the girls! They just arrived around five minutes ago." She replied peeking her head out of her bedroom two steps over.

They entered Rei's room and sat on the floor around the coffee table next to the other girls before they could crush them with questions.

"Hey girls! How's it going? I haven't seen you all in three days!" She complained. To be separated for more than two days at a time during regular circumstances, was very odd for these senshi.

"We're all fine," Mako started to reply.

"But what about you Usagi-chan? We're calling a senshi meeting for goodness sake! Tell us what happened! Enough chit chat!" Minako finished in place of her friend, causing Rei, Ami, and of course Mako to drop a sweat.

"Yes, Rei mentioned something about you mentioning something about Crystal Tokyo to her over the phone."

"That's right. Last night, I had a really strange dream."

"Or rather, you fainted during dinner and had a dream while you were out cold for around two hours." Mamoru corrected her.

"You blacked out for no reason at all?" Makoto questioned.

"That's right. We have no clue why though." She paused. "While I was out cold, I had a dream though, as I said before." All the girls leaned in to hear as she lowered her voice. "At first everything was black and I was falling really slowly. Then this really beautiful voice started singing, but the song was kind of sad and chilling. I am also one hundred percent certain that it was about my time on the moon and what led up to the cause of our deaths. It didn't go too far though into detail. After that, I stopped falling and was just sort of floating mid air, and a light appeared. Or was that when the voice began to sing? Wait no, it wasn't. Anyways, a light appeared around maybe a meter or two from my face and it morphed into what looked like Neo Queen Serenity from the future."

"Well, what happened?" Minako pressed.

"She started to speak to me. She told me that there's going to be an uprising. She said it won't seem like anything to pay attention to at first, but that things will get very bad. She also said that Earth will be on the verge of destruction and that there will be a battle unlike any other that we have faced. Meaning, something is going to make this one unique."

"Is that all she said?" The girls asked in unison.

"That's all." She shrugged.

"Rei, we thought you might be able to find something through a fire reading?" Mamoru stated.

"I can try, but I can't guarantee the results we might be looking for."

"Well it's worth a try either way." suggested Ami.

"Okay, all of you go wait for me by the fire and I'll be there in a minute." Rei suggested as she left the room and went the opposite way down the hall. The rest of the group stood up in the meantime, and made their way down the hall to where the fire was, taking seats on the floor by the far door.

"I wonder if Rei will be able to find out anything. I mean we don't know much to go off of." Usagi trailed.

"I'm sure she'll she something. Whether it's something minor or major, any lead right now will be good." Mamoru smiled back at her.

A few minutes later, Rei glided in, in her Miko priestess gown, and sat in front of the group and before the fire. The orangey glow reflected on her face, giving it a more dark and mysterious appearance. She closed her eyes and placed her palms together in front of her chest in a prayer position and quickly began to move her fingers in intricate ways while chanting an incantation.

"Rin Pyo To Sha Kai Chin Retsu Zai Zen! Show me what evil is soon to befall us!" She opened her eyes at this moment and concentrated on the flames. Nobody dared say a single word.

Images flashed before her eyes alone in the fire. First, she saw three people, a young boy, a middle aged man, and a woman. The woman was lying in bed with the other two staring at her from the bedside whilst boy and man seemed to be crying. The next image flashed in at that second, showing the building for the city's electrical control center. The next image was of a man being slowly tortured somehow, although strangely enough, nothing and no one was touching him. He began to cough up a substance and fell to the ground limp.

More shocking images flashed before the priestess's eyes; an image of an explosion and another image of a bloody scene, showing a dead family on the floor of their house face down with a dark shadow sneaking across the floor and over the bodies. Finally, the image of a black skull flared across the flames just before the fire went out, leaving the room in darkness.

Rei knowing her home like the back of her hand, stood up, walked to the door, and opened it, allowing some light to enter the now darkened room. Without a word, she motioned them to follow her back to her room down the hall where they could chat comfortably. So the group of five stood up and followed her back to her room without a second thought, seating themselves once again around the coffee table.

"So..." began Minako trying to break the silence. "Did you see anything?" she pried with a hopeful expression.

Everyone stared at Rei, waiting for her to begin. She took in a deep breath and spoke.

"Before any of you say anything, I want to make one thing clear." Everyone nodded and she continued. "I don't know what to make of what I saw, but I did see something. The images were actually fairly gruesome and shocking at parts." The silence continued and Rei proceeded.

"First, I saw a family, or rather, I suppose it was a family. There was woman in bed who appeared to be sick, with what appeared to be her husband and son perhaps by her bedside. The little boy was crying and probably around four years old. Then it changed to the city's electrical control center. It was just a view from the street though. Then, there was a man in a dark alley. He looked like he was being tortured by thin air, but collapsed on the ground after coughing up some stuff. He seemed to still be breathing however and his left arm was, I think, covered in blood." She squinted her eyes, trying to remember the rest. "I think the next thing was a large explosion and then the scene skipped to-" She paused, taking a breath. "It skipped to someone's living room at night. There were three people bloody and dead on the ground... and a person walked right over them. He seemed to be leaving the premises. After that, a black skull formed out of the scene and that's when the fire went out." She trailed off.

"This seems serious." said Ami. "If innocent people will be murdered, explosions, and torture is involved, we have to find out about this as soon as possible!"

"Yeah, no kidding." sighed Makoto.

"So what do you think this all means Rei?" questioned Usagi.

"I think we need to keep an eye out for anything going on at the electrical control center, any mysterious deaths or signs of torture in the news, explosions, and black skulls. There isn't really much else we can go off of at this time otherwise, is there?"

"No I suppose not." said Mamoru on behalf of the group.

Minako spoke up. "Do you suppose the ECC could be the enemy's hideout?"

"That's a good theory actually." considered Ami.

"Maybe we should investigate there before anything happens as a precaution?" suggested Usagi. "Those in favour?"

"Aye!" responded the rest of the group in unison.

"But they have top security, so we'll need to plan it through thoroughly. After all, we wouldn't want to get caught by an enemy before we even know what's happening." explained Minako.

"We wouldn't want to be caught under any circumstances Minako..." replied Makoto as a sweat dropped off everyone's head.

"Well, you all know what I'm trying to say." She huffed back.

"Well," Usagi began, "we need a plan so, what is it? We have to find out some background information first like where security is at what time. What type of security is there? We need a map of the building if possible. We need a lot of info before we can even plan to scope it out. We don't want to have to fight humans, who would be simply doing their job, which in a way is similar to ours: protecting."

"So, who should we put in charge of gathering that then?" inquired Minako.

"How about Luna and Artemis? They've almost always been able to find the information that we need at times like this." suggested Mamoru.

"Great idea Mamoru-san!" piped the girls.

"Speaking of which, where are Luna and Artemis Minako?" inquired the rabbit.

Minako began to laugh nervously. "Oh, ha-ha-ha, that's a funny story! You see, I was at the mall since I thought we were going shopping and when Rei called to let me know of the change of plans. I was really surprised and caught up about us calling a senshi meeting after so long that I forgot to uh... inform them." She explained sheepishly, bowing down her head with guilt.

The whole room face-palmed, dropping yet another sweat, while Minako continued to laugh and shake her hands nervously.

"Oh come on guys! It's not a big deal! I'll tell them all about it when I get back home okay! It's not the end of the world!"

"It technically could be if you forget to tell the cats every detail of the meeting." mused Makoto, teasing her a bit.

"For your own safety, I would try to remember." Usagi whispered into her ear laughing, causing her to gasp from the shock of the images now flashing through her mind. She grabbed the table firmly and hit her head, face down, from exasperation.

"I'll remember." She mumbled from beneath the mess of hair covering all sides of her face. Everyone laughed at the scene of a broken down Minako, for they had nailed her.

The girls continued to chat for around an hour when Rei left the room and came back with a tray of tea and snacks. Usagi eyed the cookies closely and gobbled most of them down before anyone else had a change. Typical bunny. Mamoru sat there quietly drinking his tea, as the good man he was, and said not a word as the girls chatted and chatted and gossiped while drinking their tea. Another hour later, Mamoru looked over at the clock to realize that it was five already. If they didn't head home now, they wouldn't get home by five thirty, meaning they wouldn't eat by six thirty, meaning they wouldn't be done eating at seven, and therefore would not have time to do something together before bed. Tomorrow he had a long and early shift at the hospital and needed to get to sleep early.

"I think it's time we hit the road. What do you think?" He whispered into Usagi's ear and she silently nodded back.

They stood up and the girls stopped talking looking up at them, wondering why they stood up so suddenly.

"Rei, thanks for your help. I'll keep my eyes on the news best I can, but we should really be going. We have to get home and cook supper, and Mamo-chan has to go to bed and wake up early for his shift at the hospital tomorrow."

"Oh okay, I'll see you out then!" Rei said with a knowing smile, standing up.

"I'll see you girls soon okay?" Usagi smiled at the group. "And Minako, don't forget about filling in the cats alright?" She added on with a wink. Minako choked on her left over tea that she had been sipping.

"Bye Usagi, Mamoru-san." replied Ami and Makoto.

"We'll see you soon!" smiled Makoto.

"Bye girls." waved Mamoru as they walked out behind Rei.

They stood outside the front of the temple in the chilly air and quickly said their goodbyes to the priestess. The poor girl had instantly started to shiver from the late January air going right through her very thin Miko gown and quickly rushed back inside to warm up. Usagi and Mamoru walked back down the longs steps, around the corner, and just a ways down the street to their car. Mamoru unlocked the doors allowing them to slide in once again and head home with the heater at full blast.

They arrived back at the apartment around forty five minutes later. They had been caught in heavy traffic due to school and work ending, causing their trip back home to double in length. The couple got out of the parked car in the building's garage and locked it up once again, walking back to the elevator.

Usagi pressed the button this time and they waited for what seemed like a century for it to come. Finally the doors slid open and they stepped inside, the doors once again closing after them. Usagi kissed him on the cheek and cuddled into his chest at the very slow elevator worked its way up. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hair inhaling the wonderful scent of her shampoo.

The elevator had just passed the fourth floor but was not yet at the fifth, when bam, the lights went out and it stopped moving. Mamoru worried if the elevator was properly serviced as the building was quite a few years old. Usagi on the other hand was more worried about being trapped in the dark.

"Mamo-chan? Everything's gone black again... please tell me it's just me blacking out again and we're almost home." She shivered in his arms, clinging to him with her eyes closed.

"No Usako, I'm afraid we're stuck." he replied bitterly. "Maybe we'll be able to find a way out if we wait to let our eyes adjust to the dark alright? Just stay calm. I'm going to try to get us out of here okay?" He said trying to sooth her while he sat her down slowly on the floor. He moved over to the door, but couldn't see a crack of light from either floor.

"I guess the power's gone out." He sighed out loud to himself.

Usagi remained in the corner of the elevator, not saying a word, watching Mamoru's shadow by the door. He tugged and jerked at it shaking the whole elevator trying to pry the doors open, but to no luck. Instead, Usagi shivered in the corner fearing for her life every time she felt the compartment move.

Mamoru stood up trying to look around that dark space, but could see no other exit. At that second they both heard a loud creak followed by a low groaning. He slowly took a seat next to the terrified rabbit, holding her close to soothe her fear as they sat there in silence praying and hoping that the inevitable would not happen.

Unfortunately, their prayers were not heard as they heard another loud creak followed by a loud snap, sending them screaming holding onto each other for their dear lives as the doomed elevator plummeted downwards.

* * *

**A/N: DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUH!  
OH MY! WHAT WILL HAPPEN?  
haha Don't worry, I'm trying to stick really close to the manga to make it as cannon as cannonly possible  
(even though this is a fanfiction which technically makes that impossible... T_T)**

**R&R GUYS! =D 3**

Hope to write and upload the next chapter soon!  
(It may be a while though... My parents are starting to get mad at me for being on my computer a lot during the day rather than going outside even though its freezing for summer... those hypocrites...)  



	5. Eight Million Yen and a Plan

**A/N: Hey guys! So I have these writing spurts and its really funny! I'll stare at the computer all day and NOTHING and then midnight comes and everything just pours out! Maybe because the house gets so quiet and there's no distractions? ahahaha (I swear I think I'm ADD as well as slightly OCD about certain things)**

**SO SORRY to keep you guys hanging some more! But you'll have to wait until the NEXT chapter to find out what happens to Usagi and my beloved Mamo-chan (yes, I did say _my_)**

**HOWEVER! This chapter is important! You you're like me and you skip all the OC stuff cuz it annoys you, DON'T! Because I promise you that unlike COUNTLESS other FF's (not all however I must say) The scenes I'm writing with these OC's will become very important later on! (I don't like pointess stuff OC's, if they have no impact on the story, BEGONE SAYS I!)  
**

**Anyways, here's chapter five! **

**It was going to be longer, but I decided the rest would fit better in a separate chapter that I will begin to write soon (going away for awhile )  
**

**R&R and Enjoy!  
Love reading the reviews guys! Keep giving me your feedback/opinions/ideas! Its great! =D  
**

**Chapter Five**

They heard another long creak followed by a loud snap, sending them screaming, holding onto each other for their dear lives, as the doomed elevator plummeted downwards.

A second later, they heard a screech, and to their shock and relief, the elevator came to a sudden halt, swinging in the shaft from the sudden stop, sending them forwards flat onto the floor. Usagi dared not move and shivered as she felt and heard their container banging against the walls of the shaft.

"Ooph!" the rabbit muttered as she felt the impact of the sudden stop when it suddenly dawned on her, "We're alive... it stopped... we're alive..." Usagi mumbled her face on the floor.

Mamoru slowly and cautiously sat up and ran his hand up and down the terrified girl's back, trying to soothe her.

"We need to find a way out fast though. Because we fell, even though it wasn't far at all, some of the cables have probably snapped and it may be that the only thing holding up the elevator is the friction against the walls. If we had gone all the way down to the garage, we would have felt a much harder impact. But if we were no longer attached to cables, we wouldn't me bumping the sides of the shaft." He paused to think. "Usako, I'm going to need you to sit up _really_ slowly and sit as far in the corner as you can alright?"

"What, why?" she asked him still refusing to move.

"Because there is a chance that the system that pulls the elevator up and down could crash through the ceiling and down onto us. If that happens, you're safer in the corner rather than a dead target in the middle."

"Bu-but what? Why? How? Don't you dare stay in the middle then either!" she sobbed. The whole situation was too frightening for her. It wasn't something she was fighting and could win; it was something they would have to wait out.

"I would like to try the door again, but seeing as we don't want to move, I'm just going to sit the corner with you alright? I'm just going to reach over and try the emergency alarm alright? I don't know if it'll work due to the power failure, but it's worth a shot. Get up slowly okay?"

"_Why didn't I think of the alarm before?_" He added on in his head.

She nodded and did as he said, slowly pushing herself off the ground and tucking her feet and legs under her, slowly retreating into one side of the corner. Mamoru reached over and tried pressing the button but to no avail. The alarm would not sound. Frustrated, he followed her outline in the dark as slowly as possible and turned himself around, sat down slowly, and wrapped his left arm around his girlfriend's waist; his legs bent in front of him. What had they gotten themselves into?

After about ten minutes, Usagi started to lose feeling in her legs from sitting on them. She began to squirm slightly to try to get the blood flowing again, but to no avail. She decided to put her legs out in front of her. She put her hands behind her back and lifted herself slightly off the ground, pulling one leg forward, then the other, and sat down ever so carefully. Mission accomplished. She quickly regained feeling in her calves and feet, sighing with relief. She put her head on her Mamo-chan's shoulder and fell asleep from exhaustion. The fright of the incident had drained her. In reaction to this, Mamoru put his other arm around the rabbit and after about an hour, fell asleep as well.

"_No dinner for us then I suppose."_ He thought as he drifted and the elevator continued to sway, creaking and groaning ever so slightly.

_**Somewhere else two days previously...**_

The tall slim man stalked down the halls of the building towards the end of the corridor. He stopped at the double doors at the end of the passage, hesitating. He took in a deep breath, pausing with his hand slightly above the doorknob, and mustered up all the courage he had. His employer had called him; it would not be wise to keep him waiting. With his head spinning, he grasped the handle and turned it, entering the large office.

His boss had no sense of decor, the man thought to himself. The walls were white, as were the filing cabinets lined up against them, the floor was white marble (only the finest), and the ceiling was high up. In the center of the room sat two black chairs before a large black desk, contrasting against the white, with a black office chair hiding behind, facing the other way to conceal anyone or anything seated in it.

"Ichihara," Said a deep voice, "glad you found your way here quickly enough. I need to discuss an important matter with you." The man with the deep voice said as he spun to face him, bald headed.

"Yes sir, of course sir."

"I know you've worked very hard at this center over the years Ichihara, but times have become tough I regret to say."

"I'm sorry sir?"

"Look, I don't want to seem around the bush with you and I'll get right to it. I'm afraid that I have to let you go." The bald man answered with a dark face.

"L-let me go sir?"

"Yes. Ichihara, I'm truly sorry, about how abrupt this may seem, but you will be required to find employment elsewhere from now on after today. I am truly sorry. If you would be so kind to hand in your passes to the building on the way out, it would be much appreciated my friend." He added with a grim smile.

"Of course sir, I understand sir; I will do so on my way out. Thank you for your kind employment until now." He nodded as he turned to leave.

"Ichihara!" The man called from his desk, standing up. "Good luck!" he called with a wave.

"Thank you very much sir." Yoshio Ichihara replied as he walked out of the office, shutting the doors behind him, and stalked back down the empty hall. Profanity flared through his mind. A million curses were thrown at the world. Why did he need to lose his job now of all times? He needed it now more than ever as well as his family. He needed to pay for their house, their food, everything! Most importantly, he needed to pay for the large medical bills haunting him.

He had the most beautiful wife imaginable; long flowing golden hair and of French decent. She was very headstrong and always thought of others.

"_If only the good she gave around would come back to her."_ He sighed shaking his head as he headed down the cold stairwell as fast as his feet would carry him.

He reached the door at the bottom of the stairwell and swung the door wide open, striding through the doorway. He looked in all directions quickly before realizing he had to go left to exit the building. He quickened his pace. The faster he was out, the easier it would be for him to accept the fact that he would not be coming back.

The sandy haired man reached the exit much to both his relief yet anger at the same time. He wanted to go home, be surrounded by family, but he needed to support them, which he now no longer had the means of doing. A distant and misted idea struck him, though he did not know what it really meant or what to make of it, but due to this, his mind urged him not to do as told, and keep his passes rather than handing them in. They may serve useful in the future. Besides, who else would find use of them here? So, he quickly escaped the building before anyone could notice that he had left without handing in his company belongings, and slid in the driver's seat of his car parked on the street in front of the building.

"_Five years I worked here at the City's Electrical Control Center, five years I gave them my expertise, five years I gave them my loyalty, and this is how they repay me? Letting me go after ten years of hard work?" _He thought to himself as he glared solemnly at the building on his left as he started the vehicle and pulled away from the curb.

He drove for what seemed hours in the heavy traffic before arriving at his first stop. He parked the old car on the side of the busy road and sauntered out and onto the sidewalk. He walked over to a white picket fence that surrounded a tiny old house which did not really belong amongst the buildings of the city. He leaned on the fence and looked around the front yard, listening to and observing the children shrieking as they would run around chasing each other. The children hadn't the slightest idea that he was even there watching them.

Yoshio sighed and straightened himself, walking two paces to the gate, opening it ever so carefully, and shutting it behind him. Hearing the gate shut, the children noticed his presence and stopped running around to see who it was that had entered their bubble.

"Daddy!" yelled a small smiling sandy haired boy, pushing past the other children as they went back to running around.

"Tadashi!" he smiled as he knelt down to scoop up the small child, forgetting about the previous events of the day. "How was school and daycare today? You didn't give Mazaki Sensei any trouble, did you?" he inquired, trying to keep a serious and stern expression.

"No! I didn't do anything! I promise!" yelped the boy.

"That's my boy." He smiled back, ruffling his son's hair. "Let's go sign you out with Mazaki sensei, and then we can go see mommy? How does that sound?"

"Yeah! Come on dad!" he demanded beaming and squirming out of his father's arms, dragging him by the arm to the house.

The two entered the daycare and signed out with the lady in charge. The impatient little boy ran out of the house, through the gate, and into the backseat of the beat up car. Yoshio followed and sat in the driver's seat. He closed his eyes and sat there for a minute.

"_How am I going to tell them that I lost my job?" _He worried profusely.

"Um dad," Tadashi piped from the back. "can we go yet?"

"Oh, uh, right..." He mumbled as he snapped out of his thought, started the car, and drove to their next stop.

After about an hour of driving and Tadashi asking _"Are we there yet?"_ repeatedly, they finally arrived at their destination. Yoshio slid out of the car and helped his restless son out of the back seat. The boy leaped out of the beat up machine and grabbed his father's hand, pulling him towards the building. They walked through the sliding doors and reality once again hit Yoshio. The smell of sanitizer and illness, an aura of sadness. His face darkened the second he had felt it. The long elevator ride was no better. They got out on the sixth floor and walked up to the desk just outside the elevator where a pretty young lady with chestnut hair was sitting in pink scrubs.

"Excuse me Miss, but where could I find Mrs Mizuki Ichihara? I was told that she was moved to this ward this morning?" He asked the lady with a forced smile.

"Hold on, let me get her file and check. Are you family?" She eyed him and Tadashi.

"Yes I'm her-"

"She's my mommy and we came to see her!" Tadashi interrupted nodding his head furiously.

The nurse laughed. "All right then, let me just look her up here and I'll take you to see her." She smiled and winked at the child.

"Here it is!" She stated. "Room number F34. Follow me." She motioned to them.

The nurse took them down a long white hall, turning right and left. They would have to remember so as to not become lost on the way out. What a depressing place a hospital could be.

The nurse stopped at a door labelled F34 and swung open the door for them smiling. Tadashi darted in, his father in close pursuit.

"Mommy!" shrieked the little boy in delight as he ran up to a most gorgeous lady sitting up in a bed at the far side of the room by the window, waiting for him with arms wide open. She was in her late twenties just as her husband. Despite her radiance, she looked tired and worn out. The hospital robes and her unkempt hair helped bring that out. This was not were such a young, beautiful, and kind lady belonged.

"My little boy! Oh I've missed you since yesterday!" She beamed as she told the young one with a kiss. "Tadashi, I hope school went well today?"

"You bet Ma! My teacher let me feed the fish today! They were _really _hungry! I put a bit too much by accident, but they still ate it all!" He said enthusiastically, creating an array of large hand movements to go along with his dramatics. To this his mother laughed.

"Mizuki, how are you feeling today? Any news?" inquired Yoshio as he sat at her side and took her hand.

"Better, thank you!" She replied with a smile. "I do have news though which I will tell you later." She added quietly, referring to news which she did not wish their four year old son to hear. Yoshio understood the message and nodded his head.

Yoshio coughed and spoke up. "Tadashi, why don't you go find the friend you made the either day while mommy and I talk?" He suggested to his son.

"You mean Mari? The funny girl with blue hair?"

"Yeah her, now go on. We need to talk okay?" he answered semi frustrated.

Tadashi gave him an odd look that said all over, _"okay then dad... gosh,"_ and ran out of the room and down the hall to where his friend was.

The sick woman sighed and leaned back into the bed relieved to be able to turn off the facade.

"So," he began slowly, "what's the news that we can't tell Tadashi?"

A tear trickled from her closed eyes down her warm red cheeks. "The tumor's spread they told me and the cancer is just getting worse. They wanted to try a new medication that's more powerful but can't due to my other disease. If they used it, it would worsen the other and I would die for sure." She paused for a breath. "They told me that if I'm to have the tumor ridded from me, I will most certainly have to have surgery and that the cost of it is over the moon. Without it, I will have perhaps 2 months left at the most for certain, but with it, they can buy me some time to get rid of the cancer as well as the tumor.

"Well then it's settled, you have to get surgery! If it's what's going to save you-"

"Yoshio, there's no way we can afford it. The tumor I have is in a very tricky place to remove and it is growing at an alarming rate as well as the cancer. On top of that, my disease weakens me further every day and worsens faster with the cancer. All we can do is pray for a miracle alright? There's no other way. Me must keep faith and pray for the best darling, but we simply cannot afford the surgery." She sighed sadly causing her husband to hold his head in his hands in frustration. Her body had always been week, but ever since he had her boy four years ago, everything had quickened its pace.

"How much is it?" He asked blankly.

"Yoshio, there's no point in even-"

"How much is it Mizuki?" He asked again, staring directly at her.

She sighed and gave up. "The doctor said it would be somewhere around nine million yen."

"Nine million yen?" He asked dumbfounded, his eyes wide with horror.

"I told you it's impossible." She chided.

"I promise you I'll find the money somehow." He choked gripping her hand.

"Don't worry about me okay? Everything will turn out just fine." She cooed stroking the side of his head. "Even if we were both working, we wouldn't make that much in five years, let alone less than two months with only one of us working. If things happen that you can't help, well they happen."

"I promise I'll find a way somehow." He repeated. His face hard this time as he rose from his seat. He bowed his head. "It's getting dark, I should be getting Tadashi home and fed and in bed for school tomorrow before the ice settles on the roads from the cold and dew."

"Yoshio..." She held out her hand.

"I will find a way Mizuki. I'll see you tomorrow, Goodnight." He said coldly as he left without another look.

He walked down the hallway and collected his son from his friend's room, escorted him out of the building of death, and seating him in the old bucket parked outside. He turned on the engine, full of anger, nearly breaking the ignition. Tadashi could tell, despite his young age, that now would not be the best moment to speak. And so, the drive home was driven in loud silence.

They arrived at their small, crowded, dark, and broken down home after half an hour. Yoshio prepared supper immediately, sushi since it was cheapest. After Mizuki has been put in hospital indefinitely, the medical bills had shot up horrendously and they were forced to live off the bare minimum. Right now they were living off food the neighbours had given them, frightened at how skinny Tadashi had looked after his mother was admitted.

What he was going to do now that he didn't have a job, he wondered. Even if he still had his regular job, he wouldn't be able to afford the surgery. Anger surged through him at this thought as he tucked his son into bed on the mat next to his.

As he lay in bed he thought of ways to come up with the money, but none seemed to work well enough or fast enough. He remembered how he had been in so many black magic clubs during high school, how his life was a mess because of what he had learned, and then he met Mizuki and she had saved him from it. He couldn't lose her! He had to find a way.

That's when it hit him. _"Magic!" _ he thought. He stared at the tattoo on his left wrist of a skull from so long ago, the sign of a brotherhood from so long ago. _"I'm sure they'd help me if I came to them. I was their leader of course."_

That's when another idea flashed through his mind. He stared at the only book that was his son's favourite as plans began to form. He could steal money from the rich to pay for the surgery and sustain them. He could use magic to help him get it. The magic would be his sword and shield. It wasn't as if he had bad intentions anyways, they were very good really. He would become Robin Hood to save his family and he knew just where he would start: the Electrical Control Center.

He would have to find his friends tomorrow to ask for their help. Surely they would oblige though, they were a brotherhood after all. An alliance if you will. He still had his passes to get into the building. All he needed was help breaching security and getting to and from the safe unnoticed.

He would save his wife if it was the last thing he would do.


End file.
